 |
Re: California to send out I O U 's tomorrow (train service affected?)
Author: Stevo del Applegato
Date: 07-01-2009 - 13:17
Word has it that ridership on the Capitol Corridor is down by 13-15% from a year ago. That would tend to mirror the percentage of job losses in the SF Bay area.
Summertime ridership totals tend to fluctuate as student fares decrease, but the number of casual travelers jumps up. Anybody remember the 10+ car trains in the early 90s? Of course that was the result of the "kids ride free" program overlapping the 2 for 1 fares. What a friggen mess that was! The onboard service folks hated those days.
However -
It would seem to me the practical (if not draconian) solution to the California budget debacle would be an across the board 15% cut to ALL State spending. Salaries, social services, schools, prisons, parks, environmental, transportation (yep, rail too) would all feel the heat. Every sacred cow and entitlement program would be on the chopping block. Declare a fiscal emergency and throw existing contracts out the window. Then go in and surgically remove the fat. Hold every employee, contractor, department and agency accountable. Most would prefer pay cuts over job losses.
Anything less would be a complete waste of time, ours and theirs.
Flame away!
sda
Summertime ridership totals tend to fluctuate as student fares decrease, but the number of casual travelers jumps up. Anybody remember the 10+ car trains in the early 90s? Of course that was the result of the "kids ride free" program overlapping the 2 for 1 fares. What a friggen mess that was! The onboard service folks hated those days.
However -
It would seem to me the practical (if not draconian) solution to the California budget debacle would be an across the board 15% cut to ALL State spending. Salaries, social services, schools, prisons, parks, environmental, transportation (yep, rail too) would all feel the heat. Every sacred cow and entitlement program would be on the chopping block. Declare a fiscal emergency and throw existing contracts out the window. Then go in and surgically remove the fat. Hold every employee, contractor, department and agency accountable. Most would prefer pay cuts over job losses.
Anything less would be a complete waste of time, ours and theirs.
Flame away!
sda
